Oct. 30 -- CHAMPS!

BY SCOTT LAUBER

It wasn't a dream.

No, it really happened. The Phillies did, in fact, win the World Series last night. Brad Lidge (who else?) threw the final pitch, one more hellacious slider for the ages, and Eric Hinske swung through it, naturally. Lidge dropped to his knees, raised his arms and got gang-tackled by his teammates. Then, they partied, long into the night, a celebration, 28 years in the making, in the ballpark and on the streets.

Amazing, isn't it?

Truly, I didn't see this coming.

On Sept. 10, the Phillies lost to the Marlins, 7-3, at the Bank and slipped to a season-high 3-1/2 games behind the Mets in the NL East. That was when I thought it might be over. Turns out, Chris Coste was having similar thoughts. So was Gary Matthews, the Phillies' broadcaster with whom I'm writing a book about the '08 season (now scheduled to be released by Thanksgiving). The Phillies lacked something. Nobody knew what, exactly, but there definitely was a missing ingredient.

And, then, something happened. They swept the Brewers in a four-game series, pulling even in the wild-card race. They went to Atlanta and swept a three-game series, inching ahead of the Mets by a half-game. They even won two of three games in Florida, and when Greg Dobbs left the series finale with a cramp in his leg and Pedro Feliz homered after replacing him in the eighth, I knew something special might be happening here. They won the NL East on Sept. 27, then breezed through the Brewers, dominated the Dodgers and reeled in the Rays. Overall, they won 24 of their last 30 games after that Sept. 10 loss, a six-week run that was as impressive as any you'll ever see.

Did they even break a sweat?

And so, you wake up this morning, still disbelieving what you saw last night. Did Ryan Howard really grab the red 2008 pennant out of the Phanatic's hand and lead a victory lap around the outfield? Did Cole Hamels really drive away with the red sports car given to the Series MVP? Did I really walk into Charlie Manuel's office and see him talking to Dallas Green, the only other Phillies manager who knows what he was feeling?

Yeah, it's all true.

Enjoy it.

***
One word about Pat Gillick: Last night, during the on-field trophy presentation, he said something like, "Let's do this again next year!" I couldn't find Gillick amid the champagne and beer celebration, but as I stepped into the elevator to return to the press box, Gillick walked in behind me.

"Let's do it again next year?" I said, inquisitively.

"Well, somebody will do it again next year," he said, smiling.

It won't be Gillick, though. His contract expires tomorrow, and after taking a brief trip to Toronto next week, he and his wife are going on a European vacation, with stops in Paris and Berlin. Gillick has a home in Seattle that he rarely sees and a summer house on Prince Edward Island that he never sees. I don't think he'll ever completely retire from baseball, but at age 71, I think he'd like a job where he can work from PEI during the summers and not have to be at the ballpark every day.

Ruben Amaro Jr. is the favorite to be named GM, possibly by the weekend, and if that happens, he'll face some tough decisions. Do you re-sign Pat Burrell? How about Jamie Moyer? Do you give Hamels a long-term contract? How about Howard? Those are questions, though, for another day, and we'll have plenty during the winter to discuss the answers.

***
Today's News Journal is wall-to-wall Phillies. It starts with the game story, which talks about how the 1980 banner that flies solo above right-center field is going to finally have some company.

-Cole Hamels didn't expect to be named MVP, but it was a well-deserved honor. But, as Kevin Noonan writes (and it's hard to disagree), the MVP should've been shared by the members of the bullpen.

-Kevin Roberts brings us this poignant moment: Lidge and catcher Carlos Ruiz couldn't decide who should keep the ball from the final out, so they gave it to Manuel. Very classy.

-Martin Frank thought it was fitting that the weirdest game in the weirdest season should end with a championship. I couldn't agree more.

-Moyer and Chris Coste have waited a long time for this. So has Burrell, the longest-tenured Phillie and a free-agent-to-be, whose only hit in the World Series couldn't have come at a better time, in perhaps his final at-bat with the Phillies. Speaking of well-timed hits, how about Geoff Jenkins, who re-started Game 5 with a pinch-hit double and pumped his fist like a 10-year-old in a Little League game. Speaking of the re-start, the Phillies couldn't have felt more comfortable putting the game in the hands of their bullpen.

-Within the notebook, Manuel and Green share a moment. Also, there's a word about Chase Utley's play in the seventh inning which may have saved the game.

-The parade down Broad Street will be tomorrow. I'll have more details on that in a few hours. As Peter Bothum writes, this championship heals all the old wounds that plague Phillies fans. The scene at the Bank last night was pure bedlam, and fans were partying in Delaware, too.

-Finally, this championship was a long-time coming for both the Phillies and the region. But, then, we don't have to tell you that, do we?